This summer, skip the bug spray and musty cabins. Instead, how about a Costa Rican surfing safari or an exclusive horse backriding excursion in Russia?

Forget being the envy of their peers. Kids that participate in one of ActionQuest's summer programs are probably making their own parents jealous.

Campers can take a 3-week jaunt around the Mediterranean on a 112-foot sailing yacht, making stops in Monte Carlo, Sardinia and Cannes, or they can snorkel with sea lions and white-tipped reef sharks in the Galapagos Islands.

Even though the cost for an ActionQuest summer program is at a premium, kids aren't exactly coddled. Campers have to work to help preserve the Galapogos ecosystem by surveying the giant tortoise population and the like. Participants in the Mediterranean program are expected to rotate through different ship duties. "It's not a luxury cruise," explains an ActionQuest spokesperson. "They are making it happen for themselves."